Are you going Bert?

Mike

Wish I could, but I am busy with local sailing this year so far. I hope they do enjoy a bit of "Chamber" weather. My son is using our boat in his summer sailing camp at Pensacola Yacht Club, and Michael is now the captain of his high school cheerleading team. I hope we get the J 29 in a race or two this fall.

I'm rolling out in about half an hour. Newport via Nashville, makes sense right?

The Great Circle route? ;^)

Southern version

I'm filling in as a last minute crew replacement, should be fun

Ahh...the Great-er Circle route!

When you get to Oprey Land, say Hi to Dolly for me!

NOR has several options for courses: W/L and America's Cup (even one day for distance race).

Anyone attending wish to share their preferences?

Mike

Holy smash-up, an A.C. course with a fleet of F16s!? (or F18s, etc.)? That would be awesome to watch but would probably result in a lot of carbon and fiberglass pieces floating in the water. Consider me intrigued at the thought.

I see a sailing version of one of THESE coming

Watching the AC45s fleet race on that course was awesome, with surprisingly little carnage. Reaching starts tend to be harder to perfect, allowing for some natural separation to occur.

Maybe they'll get drone footage...

Mike

Webcam of today's Red Gear Racing Practice with the Newport to Bermuda race start in the bacground.
Looks like 6 F16s out in 8-9 knots.
http://old.riyachting.com/newport-rhode-island-webcams.html

Reaching start in a high speed fleet? I don't think so. I had enough trouble with the reaching finish at Sarasota.

Reaching starts don't work well with lots of boats.. We tried it during the America's Cup World Series, kind of by accident. All the boats got to the windward mark at the same time and the leeward mark for that matter. Scary

Scary yes... but also awesome. Those races were also about ten minutes long, so not much time to separate.

Personally, I would rather a standard start, but having a trapezoid or something with a reach would be fun.

This will be my first F16 regatta...

I'm a big fan of the trapezoid course and with big fleets it is brilliant. I also liked the smoking reach to the finish at Americas. You'd think a short reach to the finish in breeze would be a parade, oh no there be passing lanes and crew work is king! Yes, grandpa got passed, still loved it though!

Same here...you couldn't relax on that reach and if you didn't make the right kite/no kite decision, it could be costly. Andy got me once there at Americas (he seems to do that to me a lot).

The OA put it in, presumably because the class wants it. I guess time will tell...

I am a huge fan of the trapezoids, especially for multiple fleets sharing a course. I sort of talked the HCA into it for the NAs in DE a few years ago, it got mixed reviews, probably because it was so new (and requires lots of good resources).

Mike

Without a doubt the trapezoid course places additional demands on the RC team and competent support is a must to make it work. The course takes a lot or realestate but WOW what a great course for the sailors and when the breeze and seastate kicks up it is an absolute hoot for the sailors! The pucker factor kicks up a notch when the boat 3 meters above or below you eats it. That double trapped spin reach to the other side can really thin the herd. In my opinion it is a must for big fleets and Worlds type of events. It gives you an opportunity to exercise every skill you have in the toolbox. GO TRAPAZOID :-)

I'd be curious to hear negatives of the the trapzaoid course.

Jeff - you are thinking clearly, and may the F 16 Force be with you. They are snappy little boats for sure.